Yogi Adityanath's Hate speeches

Yogi Adityanath is the current Chief Minister (Like the Governor of State in the US System) of the state of Uttar Pradesh. 

He is one of the most irresponsible leaders UP has ever seen. His speeches cause people to go kill others, he was a listener on the stage when another one of his cronies said to dig up the Muslim women graves and rape them, and one of them did that.

This guy is nuts and had some 300 criminal cases pending against him, the moment he became the Chief, he told the courts to drop the charges. 

God save India from these extremist men, a good leader should build harmony among people and not generate hatred.

June 20, 2016 - Yogi Adityanath accuses Mother Teresa of converting Hindus to Christians - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCK1_XTvRQQ

BJP MP Yogi Adityanath Hate Speech against Mother Teresa & Christianity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wujRdN-5YsI

Will add more videos

Muzaffarnagar Riots, Jats Say 'Allahu Akbar' and Muslims Chant 'Har Har Mahadev'

This is a good story of reconciliation between Hindus and Muslims in Muzaffarnagar. It is difficult for BJP guys to swallow this, if they stay out of a town, there will be fewer communal riots. 

During the communal riots in Jabalpur (India) in the early sixties, both Muslims and Hindus were killed in the mayhem, as it happens every time. I wish every father in India, America and elsewhere teaches this lesson to his kids. He was crystal clear on his take; He told us the "individuals" are responsible for the bloodshed and not the religions. If we get the guy who started the conflict and punish him for disturbing peace, rather than calling it a religious issue for the communities to jump in and aggravate it further, we would have saved many lives. He would emphasize that you cannot blame the intangible religion and expect justice, we must blame the individuals who caused it and punish them accordingly for disturbing the peace and thus bring a resolution to the conflict by serving justice. He said you cannot annihilate, kill, hang or beat the religion, then why bark at it?

Mike Ghouse
# # #

Courtesy - News18.com, India

1,611 Days After Muzaffarnagar Riots, Jats Say 'Allahu Akbar' and Muslims Chant 'Har Har Mahadev'

At Mahapanchayats, Jat and Muslim leaders are erasing the past and giving peace a chance.

Uday Singh Rana | News18.com

Updated:February 9, 2018, 2:36 PM IST

Muzaffarnagar: After the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections last year, Vipin Singh Balyan from Kutba village in western UP’s Muzaffarnagar took a radical decision. Fifty-three Jat youths from his village were implicated in nine separate cases of violence, including murder, in 2013, when communal riots ripped through Muzaffarnagar. He would go to the Muslim victims and beg forgiveness on behalf of Jats. 

On the morning of September 8, 2013, communal violence had spread to Kutba and a group of local youths had killed eight Muslims. Scared for their lives, Muslims fled the village and settled in nearby Bara Basti, a cluster of 12 Muslim-dominated villages. 

“I decided to go to the house of one Akhtar Hassan, who had great standing among Kutba’s Muslims. I told him I was there to ask for forgiveness. The first time I went there, the Muslims gathered around and started abusing me for what Jats had done to their families. I neither reacted nor tried to defend myself. I left my Jat ego at the door and listened to everything they had to say,” says Balyan. 

The first meeting with Akhtar was a failure. Balyan went again, only to be turned down once more. When the third visit, too, yielded no possibility of a “settlement”, Balyan says he was beginning to lose hope. But then, something unexpected happened. 

“After the third meeting, I went home dejected. That very evening, Akhtar called me. He said that a Muslim girl from Kutba was being bothered by local Muslim lads from Bara Basti. He sought help from Jats to put pressure on the police to arrest those miscreants. As their former landlords, Jats thought it was their duty to help a daughter of Kutba, even if she was Muslim. We surrounded the police station and the cops were forced to arrest the accused.”

That incident helped break the ice and gave Balyan and company the chance to move forward with their “peace process”. But it was important to first win back the Muslims’ trust. The culprits of Kutba were Jats, but the Jats of Kakra village had lost their sons at the hands of Muslim rioters from nearby Pur Balyan village. So the Jats of Kutba took a decision. They would first get cases against Muslims 

Chaudhary Shakir Ali is the former pradhan of Pur Balyan village. On September 7, 2013, a group of Jats were passing through the mosque in Pur Balyan when they were killed by a Muslim mob. 

Shakir Ali, a local landlord, was accused of instigating the violence. “We have centuries-old relations with Jats. But since the riots, I had stopped getting wedding invitations from Hindu households. Sometime during Ramzan last year, during the sehri, Jats from Kutba came to my house and had breakfast with us. Vipin bhai told us that he wanted a settlement of all riot-related cases. That came as a godsend for us. We were willing to fold our hands in front of the Jats of Kakra and beg for forgiveness. And if that helped the Jat boys from Kutba, it would be even better.”

So it was decided. Fifty-three Jat boys from Kutba and 27 Muslims from Pur Balyan were accused of rioting. The two communities would come together to forgive all of them for their “crimes of passion”. After months of negotiations with the victims — the Kutba Muslims who now lived in Bara Basti and the Jats of Kakra — it was decided that a ‘Mahapanchayat’ would be held. Two ‘Mahapanchayats’ were held. But the Muslims had one condition. 

“They told us that if there was even a hint of involvement of the BJP, which they blame for the riots, any chance of a settlement would be off the table,” says Vipin, adding, “We agreed to that demand and did not invite any BJP leaders to the Mahapanchayat.” 

 It complicated matters slightly since Kutba’s twin village Kutbi is the home of BJP MP and former Union minister Sanjeev Balyan. But the Jats did not waver from their promise. The BJP was cut out from the peace settlement.

The first two Mahapanchayats, one held at Mulayam Singh Yadav’s residence in Delhi and the other one in Muzaffarnagar city, were positive in their tone and tenor, but a settlement had not been reached. The victims wanted to forgive and move on, but the scars of the Muzaffarnagar riots were still fresh. It was the third Panchayat in Bara Basti on February 4, 2018, where they made serious headway.

Sohanvir Balyan, a Jat from Kakra, says, “Our Jat sons had been killed and yet, we went to the Mahapanchayat in Bara Basti. Some Right-wing groups refer to Bara Basti as ‘Mini-Pakistan’ owing to its Muslim majority. But we did something radical there.”

At the Mahapanchayat, Sohanvir took the stage and asked all Jats to chant ‘Allah-O-Akbar!’ (Allah is great). He then turned to Muslims and asked them to chant ‘Har Har Mahadev!’ (Hail Lord Shiva). To Vipin Balyan’s surprise, everyone complied.

Jats and Muslims have been friends for centuries but I have never seen something like this. I have never seen hardy Jats shout Allah-O-Akbar or seen skull cap-donning Muslims shout ‘Har Har Mahadev’,” he says.

“All of us chimed in. Har Har Mahadev is not an Islamic chant, but we still chimed in,” says Shakir Ali.

The chants set the ball rolling. Chainpal Singh, the son of a local Chaudhary, took the stage with Shakir Ali and the two begged for forgiveness on behalf of their communities. “I folded my palms and said ‘Galati te humari thi, humein maaf kar dijiye (It was our fault, please forgive us),” says Chainpal.

But what clinched the ‘peace deal’ were the pleas of village elders.

Raghubir Singh, a 90-year-old Jat from Kutba, faced Akhtar Hassan and told him that Jats held no ill-will against Muslims. “The violence was not planned or done out of some enmity. A video was being circulated on mobile phones that showed the head of a Jat being smashed by a rock. It later turned out that the video was from a Taliban camp in Afghanistan. We were fooled and we fell for it. So I begged Akhtar to forgive Jats.”

Shakir Ali had a similar story to tell. “Some BJP leaders had held a Mahapanchayat on September 7 and rumours spread that a Muslim journalist was brutally murdered after it. Some local boys got angry and things got out of hand.”

After the chants and the passionate pleas for forgiveness, Akhtar Hassan, who lost many friends in Kutba, “forgave” the Jats of his village. “I took the families of the victims, all of whom were my friends, into confidence and together, we forgave the Jats of our village. The cases are still going on in the courts but we don’t want to exact any revenge,” he tells News18.

Shakir Ali says, pointing to 40-year-old Assaduddin, “Look at him! He is handicapped and the police said he had murdered someone! Several people, from both sides, were falsely implicated in the riots. Now, they can move on with their lives.”

While these Mahapanchayats were helping Jats and Muslims move towards a resolution, it ruffled feathers within the BJP. Former Union minister and Muzaffarnagar MP Sanjeev Balyan met UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday in Lucknow, along with BJP MLA Sangeet Som and farmer leader Naresh Tikait. He demanded that several cases of arson should be quashed. The leaders claimed that out of 502 cases, around 400 cases were of arson and were mostly bogus just to get the compensation.

As per reports, CM Yogi has assured the leaders of all possible help in this regard after proper consultation. A few days ago, the Yogi government had announced its decision to withdraw 20,000 cases, which were “politically motivated”.

According to local Jats, Sanjeev Balyan’s decision to take Naresh Tikait with him to Lucknow has political significance. As the ‘Chaudhary’ of the Balyan Khap, which dictates social life in 84 Jat villages of Muzaffarnagar, Tikait is essentially Jat royalty. Moreover, he is the son of iconic farmer leader Mahinder Singh Tikait.

A Jat activist from Muzaffarnagar says, “When we met Tikait sahib, we told him that he had been used by Sanjeev Balyan for political ends. When he (Sanjeev Balyan) goes to the CM with the leader of the Balyan Khap, it appears as though all Jats are with him. His position in the BJP gets strengthened.”

Another activist says Jats were “fooled” in 2014 and again in 2017. “Jab tak Jat Jat hai, tab tak Jat ki thaath hai. BJP ne kuch waqt ke liye Jat ko Hindu bana diya tha. (As long as Jats remain Jats, they will remain prosperous. BJP had turned Jats into Hindus for a while).”

Unperturbed by the BJP’s attempts to champion riot-accused Jats, Vipin Balyan says his Mahapanchayats will continue. “We have already resolved the conflicts in Kutba, Kakra and Pur Balyan. Now we will hold similar Mahapanchayats for the Jats and Muslims of Lishar, Fugana, Lakh, Mohammadpur Raisingh and Kawal villages. Jats and Muslims are, once again, united. The days of Baba Tikait (Mahinder Singh Tikait) are back.”

While Muslims who fled their village do not plan to return to live here, signs of communal healing are already visible. “One boy was an ironsmith in our village. A few months ago, he came back to set up his shop, even though he continues to live 5 km away in Bara Basti. We welcomed him with open arms and he was followed by Muslim farm labourers, who are the backbone of Jat landlords. The wounds are healing,” says Balyan.

Shakir Ali agrees. “Recently, I held my son’s Walima (wedding reception) in the village. I had more Hindu guests than Muslims,” he says proudly.

Modi's dream can come true, if he is is serious about a legacy in the likes of Nehru.

Modi can resurrect his dream, if he is serious.
A serious interview about the Intolerance in India

When I wrote, “Modi on track to cripple India,” as expected, a flood of emails roared in my inbox.  Most of them sounded like tantrum throwing toddlers, meaning, they did not even read what I wrote, but were eager to bark at me aimlessly, because someone else did it.  That is how the people on the right are made; facts don’t matter to them.

It is easy to ridicule them, but it is not our purpose. They are a part of every group and society with no exceptions, but they are my friends and neighbors and I respectfully deal with them on this particular issue. I believe, we should keep an open door to those who can be redeemed. God calls on us in Bhagvad Gita, Quran, Bible, Torah, Kalpa Sutra, Granth Sahib and other holy books to forgive and we have to make it easy for them to step out of their dug in position. 

I have nothing but love for my fellow beings, and want to nurture the ones who are lost.   I am blessed with a solid record of dealing with diverse people in different forums comprising people from many faiths, traditions, ethnicities and nationalities.  At least on my part, I don’t have enemies, my heart has no ill-will. 

There was a time on Hannity show, when I had received over 3000 emails within an hour after his show. Thanks to the experience of moderating forums, radio talk shows and live discussions that has allowed me to make an effort to reason with people, and most of them respond to reason and rationality.

My challenge to you (not the moderates, but the right leaning Hindus, Muslims, Christians and others) is to read before you comment, and whatever you comment on, please quote the words and reference and don’t pull things out of thin air.

Modi has a dream to go down in the history as India's prime Minister who changed India for better, it is a good dream to have, but he is on a self-destruct mode, and letting his party men destroy it for him. He can resurrect it, if he can reign in on his party men.  They have a right to free speech, as long as they are not a part of his government hell bent on destroying the social fabric of India.    

Sonali, a Social Scientist from India has asked twelve pointed sensible interview questions and I have answered them to the best of my ability.   

------------

Dear Sonali,

Thanks for sending me these twelve questions; the more we can discuss and articulate an issue, the more sustainable solutions we can produce. 

 I am pleased to respond to your questions in the same sequence.

Sonali: As a concerned citizen, I am quite confused as to which quarter the intolerance is coming from. 

Mike: The source of intolerance is directly coming from the excited uncontrollable members of BJP.  Politically I am an Independent; however I have supported Modi from his election to a few months into his job. I understood, he was telling us what he believed; to build a cohesive India. Apparently that was not his intention, many of us wanted to give him the rope, including Modi worshippers like Tavleen Singh and Madhu Kishwar, but unfortunately he lives in a bubble believing that every thing is hunky dory. 

Now, a trend is evolving, more and more Indians don’t see the Modi's actions correspond with his rhetoric. His silence is leading us onto a disastrous path, and one by one, everyone who cares about the well being of India will start criticizing him for his silence, I am making the same call.  It’s him, he can change it.

Yogi Adityanath in his inflammatory speech calls on his party members to rape dead Muslim women – and it happened last week.  There is so much hatred coming out of BJP members, and Modi is silent, and that is not good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0vAzA1c8sM  Some where down in the article, I have clearly spelled out, what Indians want.

Sonali - 1. Why has there not been such protests in earlier regimes (or against other state governments) where riots/discrimination against Dalits have occurred?

Mike – Before Modi, Indians  reluctantly trusted the government to stop the mayhem or at least say something about it. The Modi Government did not say a word this time;  Aklhaq was lynched and murdered by the mob, the PM did not say a word;  Kalburgi was murdered for his stance on religion, the PM did not say a word; a dead woman was raped, the PM did not say a word,  and yet he has the time to spew subtle venom against Muslims in Bihar election campaign…that is underneath the office of the Prime Minister.  Indians can put up with injustice and hypocrisy for a limited time.  That’s what triggered this whole thing.

If  people did not react before, I hope you are not suggesting them to continue to remain silent.  This is precisely what happens in domestic violence cases, they ask the women to put up with it, and bear the violence against her and get doused in kerosene and burn alive.  This mindset has to change, we cannot blame the victims, we have hold the perpetrators and or their accessories responsible for causing the protests.

Sonali - 2. This cry of intolerance seems to me at odds with the number of protests against the govt and Modi in particular, including this mail of yours. If we were truly an intolerant people, and the govt was equally intolerant, wouldn't we see the kind of situation that we saw during the emergency? Wouldn't there be far more violence than there is now?

Mike - Precisely, Indira had tightened the noose around every one’s neck during emergency, despite that Goenka and several heroes protested and went to Jail. Please read the two paragraphs about it in my essay.  Now, people don’t want that to happen and are speaking up before Modi’s men tighten the noose around us. (if one is communal,  he/she will interpret the word “us” to mean the writers religion, where as if he or she is pluralistic /secular,  he will correctly understand to mean, “all of us  Indians” ) – The essay is at:  http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2015/11/modi-on-track-to-cripple-india.html

Sonali - 3. If prosperity is the key to success for all, why are some of the intelligentsia and academics working against this, by hindering a govt that seems to be doing something?

Mike – People want prosperity, not rhetoric. Mr. Modi promised to build toilets and not temples – meaning jobs first then religion, also meaning getting your shit together before talking.  Do you know the divisive things he is saying in Bihar – and his eerie silence on bad things happening in India?  There is a saying, evil in the world continues because good men will do nothing about it, now the good men and women have woken up and speaking against the divisive talk.  It is the academics and intelligentsia that woke up first, and all others are seeing it through now.    Thanks to them for making an effort to save India.

Sonali - 4. In my view, the apparent chaos seems to have increased after their protests, rather than before. And the protests have increased because of the intolerance of the peoples mandate.

Mike – Absolutely not – these protests have been gradually increasing in their intensity.  First a few academics returned their awards, and then more joined them. When Modi continue to keep his silence, historians and film wallah’s joined… even then Modi did not speak, thenthe business icons like Narayan Murthy and RBI chief spoke…. And if he remains silent, the whole country will stand up.  Doesn’t Modi have any common sense to speak out and allay the fears of intolerance by checking on it? Why blame the victims? Blame the man who is doing nothing.

You’ll appreciate them all later, when we have our freedoms restored – freedom to eat, drink, speak, hear, see, wear and believe whatever we want without hurting others physically. In essence Mind your own faith.

Sonali - 5. If the intelligentsia and academics are better equipped to tackle the centuries old problem of caste / religion / gender discrimination, why aren't they addressing the problem with the general janta, who are the key players in perpetuating the discrimination? Why aren't they holding apolitical meetings with the janta, instead of presenting papers in seminars? As academics we know that the reach of seminar presentations are restricted to the attending members and to the proceedings of the conference if they are published. The next use of these are when another scholar sits to write his/her paper. At best, these help to increase the length of one's CV. 

Mike – Let me ask you this,  why aren’t you doing it?  Don’t  you want India to focus on prosperity and get out of the intolerance? Aren’ t you an Indian? Don’t you have the responsibility? Why do you always want others to do it for you? What have you done to speak up against intolerance? Yes, the Janta will stand up.

Sonali - 6. Doesn't social change come from within the citizen himself?

Mike – Indeed, these protests are the fodder to wake people up and bring that change in two forms- Get Modi to speak up and reign in on the radicals that are hell bent on tearing mother India apart,  and 2^nd, if he does not fix it, protest enough for him to step down.

Sonali - 7. Why do we highlight those stray voices that talk utter nonsense, instead of highlighting those sensible voices?

Mike – In a democracy, all voices must be heard, we cannot suppress any voice. However, speeches that call on raping dead women must be stopped, if you think it is the Hindu thing to do, most Hindus would disagree with you.  Yogi can say, I am a loose cannon and I am saying this, but he cannot give the impression that Hinduism teaches him that.

Adiyanath is not a stray animal, he is a popular MP of BJP, and if he wants to remain a party member, the party should have the rules of conduct. Google him out.  BJP is allowing it, as it suits their divisive agenda.  Modi and Amit Shah ought to be ashamed of what they have said in Bihar. If you don’t know about it, please check the papers, watch NDTV and hear them yourselves… etc. You need to be an informed Indian.

Sonali - 8. Why isn't there focus on the development issues? -- A focus on this might lead to a better atmosphere and hope in this country.

Mike – Good question, once again the PM has allowed diversion instead of development.  If he remains focused on development and not communalizing India, India will go forward.

8. Here is a link to a TedTalk by Setven Pinker, a leading cognitive scientist, that is well worth watch https://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_the_myth_of_violence?language=en . His book The Better Angels of Our Nature  is worth a read http://www.amazon.com/The-Better-Angels-Our-Nature/dp/1491518243. In his view "today we may be living in the most peaceable era in our species’ existence." 

http://www.slate.com/articles/Arts/books/2011/10/steven_pinker_s_the_better_angels_of_our_nature_why_should_you_b.html; https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/16029496-the-better-angels-of-our-nature-why-violence-has-declined

As academics and "intellectuals" we need to view the present situation in its entirety, rather than take, what appears to be, a calculated action in dealing with the present situation. 

Mike – it is not calculated action, it is a deliberate response to these ugly incidents;

·         Are you telling me that threat to behead Siddaramiah should be ignored?

·         Are you telling me raping a dead woman should be ignored?

·         Are you telling me burning Dalits is should be ignored?

·         Are you telling me lynching a guy in Dadri should be ignored?

·         Are you telling me hacking Kulbargi should be ignored?

·         Are you telling me messing with the face of Kulkarni should be ignored?

Sonali - 9. Social cohesion, gender justice, gender equality are all a matter of change in society, and change, as we know, is a generational process. If we look within our own families, we will see this change across generations.

Mike – Indeed the change is generational, and will take two or three to generations.  Protests are to stop the badness taking root in our society,  that is being enflamed by BJP.

Sonali - 10. In my view, the present approach of dealing with dissent is non-productive to the goals of a prospering India that benefits all. In my simple view, if I have money to invest and start an industry, I will think twice in the present scenario. And if I have to wait for the next govt, hoping it will another party, and waiting to see if it works well, I will lose at least 7-8 years to decide whether the atmosphere is good enough. In the process a decade will be lost. Translate my imagined plight  to the real investors from the world over. We stand to lose with the continued non-productive protests.

Mike – Yes, Modi’s silence is to be blamed – the entire nation including his ardent supporters likes Tavleen Singh and Madhu Kishwar are saying this. The entire world is asking Modi to speak up. He is not a goonga or behra, he can speak up. 

What conclusions will you draw, when the man gives communal color in his bhashans in Bihar, and remains silent on the critical issues?  Have you ever thought of asking the abuser in a domestic violence rather than condemning the victims? 

Sonali - 12. Let's assume the present central govt falls due to the pressure from the intellectuals and the true nationalists, what option do we have to take on the reins of this great nation and lead it on the path to prosperity for all? The answer to this question should help us decide whether we should be supportive of the present govt until the next general election or continue with this present approach. I would greatly appreciate an answer to this question as it will help me deal with my confusion over the present scenario.

Mike -  Most Indians want just one thing; Modi to speak up. No one wants chaos, sadly Congress party is not ready for a situation like this and we do not have an alternate party to run the government, BJP can run it, but run effectively and stop dividing the nation.

If the Grand alliance can stick together and come up with a plan, it would always be good – it will caution the  BJP members to get their act together,  if not there is someone else ready to contest early elections.

MY CHALLENGE

If there are any intellectuals representing BJP,  I ask them to quote me where have I said anything negative about Hindus and Hinduism,  on the other hand, I have stood up for the rights of all humanity including Hinduism.  Stick to the theme and not jump around and tell me what happened during the times of Alexander or Babar, deal with the current situation like an honest problem solver, if not I understand the paucity of intellectuals representing the party.  Here is the link and there is a lot more to be added to this since it was written. http://standingupforothers.blogspot.com/2012/04/standing-with-hindus.html


WHAT DO WE WANT?

Mr. Modi to speak up! That is it.  

He can address the nation this way; “I am the Prime Minister of all Indians. I will get blamed for the bad things that happen in India, and I am not going to put up with that.  From this moment, everyone who messes with their fellow Indians will be punished severely, and if they have staged acts like the one in Dadri, everyone involved will be punished severely.  This is my last warning and action will follow.” 

“Furthermore, I declare that no one will compel or tell other Indians what to read, write, eat, drink, wear or believe.”

This is all we want. 

Arise! Awake! and stop not till the goal is reached.
Swami Vivekananda must have meant this for Indians in 2015.

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, human rights, foreign policy and building cohesive societies. Mike offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at TheGhousediary.com 

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Radicalism in Hinduism appears to compete with the ugliness of ISIS

Yogi Adityanath on stage asks Hindus to rape dead Muslim women by taking them out of graves. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=186&v=uLXYzvI_FWs

You have to hear this guy out on YouTube. All I can say is for every Hindu ass, there is a Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Buddhist ass.

He is not an ordinary guy. Wiki, "Mahanth Yogi Adityanath (born Ajay Singh; 5 June 1972) is an Indian politician and a priest. He is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament who has represented Gorakhpur in the Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian Parliament) since 1998. Adityanath is the Mahant or head priest of the Gorakhnath Mutt, aHindu temple in Gorakhpur, following the death of his spiritual "father," Mahant Avaidyanath in September 2014. He is also the founder of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, a social, cultural and nationalist group of youth who seek to provide rightist Hindu platform."

If we the moderates don't speak up, he will gather momentum and mess up India. 

God save Modi from his Chumchas***, and I pray that he is aware of what is going on, if he does not speak up, his dream of being one of the best prime ministers of India will be shattered and sab ka sath sab ka vikas will become a pipe dream. Not good for India.

*** http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2015/06/modis-bubble-and-chumcha-culture.html

Mike Ghouse  is thinker, writer and a speaker committed to building cohesive societies,where no human has to live in apprehension of the others, and offers pluralistic solutions to issues of the day. All about him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net 

Too much Hindutva rhetoric by Pavan K Varma

The statistically insignificant, but strategically dangerous extremists among Muslim continue to terrorize,  and now extremists among Buddhist and Hindu are challenging the hegemony and they will have their own share of fanatics. I am glad monopolies are broken and we will get to a point soon, where the 99.9% of good people of the world will hone on the extremists to create a better world for all of us, not 100% but a tad below that.

Mike Ghouse
# # #

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-edit-page/too-much-hindutva-rhetoric/
12/22/14 Courtesy of Times of India
Pavan K Varma

The writer, a former diplomat, represents JD(U) in Rajya Sabha.Modi’s silence on communal speeches by members of the Sangh casts a shadow on his governance

In the progression of inflammatory political news that saturates headlines in the media, there is often reason to pause to try and analyse the root cause or essential pattern underlying them. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti’s December 1 speech in which she expletively dubbed those who don’t support the BJP as haramzadon provides an illustrative moment for such an exercise.

Not unreasonably, the opposition in Parliament expected Narendra Modi to sack such a minister. Instead, after the minister expressed ‘regret’ in both Houses, the PM, bowing to opposition pressure, merely made a statement disapproving use of such language, and requested members to magnanimously forgive her, especially given her background of being ‘from a village’. The lady is currently actively campaigning for the forthcoming Delhi elections.

Why is a prime minister like Narendra Modi, who swept to power on the promise of development and not — as per his own avowals — communally divisive politics, soft on the Sadhvi and many others in his party who have made equally inflammatory statements? The answer to this question is the key to understanding the performance of this government in the last six months and its likely priorities in the balance period of its term.

The Sadhvi’s case is a metaphor. This first-time MP may have no formal education beyond school, or much domain knowledge about food processing which is her portfolio, but she is a member of the numerically significant Nishad community in UP, and her religiously divisive diatribes are crucial in consolidating dalit and backward-class votes for BJP. From this metaphor several inferences can be derived, and i will specifically mention four.

First, it appears that the emphasis on development by Modi, both during the elections and subsequently, was geared primarily to optimally harness the anti-incumbency mood against the lacklustre performance of UPA. The seductive slogan of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, or his statement seeking a moratorium for 10 years on religious divides, reinforced the belief in the middle class and beyond that he would be the messiah of effective governance.

But, while it is too early to pass definitive judgment, governance as yet has been at best average. There have been no decisive measures signifying a new vision. The budget was a curious halfway house between moribund continuity and reluctant reform. Important ministries such as HRD have seen a spate of unnecessary controversies. There has been volte face on black money. In spite of a favourable international economic climate with falling crude and commodity prices, agriculture, industrial production, exports and job creation are languishing. Ministers have been changed frequently, are often unprepared in Parliament and there is obvious over-centralisation of decision-making in the PMO.

Secondly, the strategy of religious polarisation is likely to stay. BJP’s electoral support base in northern India is narrow and largely restricted to some segments of the upper castes and urban areas. To maintain its winning momentum, it has to consolidate the support of the larger Hindu vote. Hence, while the BJP leadership harps on development, the cadre invents things like ‘love jihad’ to polarise votes on communal lines. The elections coming up in future, especially in UP and Bihar, will give much evidence of this strategy, notwithstanding all the rhetoric about development.

Thirdly, it is becoming evident that the fundamentalist core within BJP and the larger Sangh Parivar are no longer in control. The more important question is: does the PM want to rein them in? Days after Sadhvi Jyoti’s apology and the PM’s (mild) reprimand, Sakshi Maharaj, a sitting BJP MP, elevated Nathuram Godse to a patriot.

Around the same time, Yogi Adityanath, also a sitting MP, announced his resolve to spearhead mass reconversions of non-Hindus, a move specifically aimed at igniting incendiary religious polarisation. If this is the case of sitting MPs, fringe organisations like VHP, Bajrang Dal and Hindu Mahasabha believe their time has come given Modi’s curious silence on their increasing communal evangelism.

VHP’s Ashok Singhal in fact said publicly that BJP’s victory signifies the return of Hindu India. Chandra Prakash Kaushik, president of Hindu Mahasabha, has announced his resolve to put busts of Godse across India. And Rajeshwar Singh of Dharma Jagran Samiti has declared that his target is to make a Hindu Rashtra by 2021 since Muslims and Christians have no right to stay here.

Fourthly, and finally, in an atmosphere of increasing social instability due to politically incited religious tensions, it is more than likely that governance will take a further back seat. Policing priorities, sporadic riots, a pervasive sense of social suspicion and acrimony and frequent disruptions of legislative bodies may well overwhelm stable and sober long-term policymaking. Equally, there is no guarantee that cynically generated localised incidents will not provoke reta-liatory actions elsewhere, thereby amplifying the ambit of fear and instability.

Of course, there will be short-term electoral gains for BJP. But the party must ponder to think what the long-term consequences of such a policy will be, both for its developmental agenda and the composite fabric of India. The people of India are watching.

The writer, a former diplomat, represents JD(U) in Rajya Sabha